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New York Islanders on The Hockey News
Islanders Oliver Wahlstrom Files For Arbitration, Future To Be Resolved Soon
By Stefen Rosner,
22 days ago
At the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas, New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said that the team planned on qualifying restricted free agent forward Oliver Wahlstrom .
But he also said if there was an opportunity to get Wahlstrom an opportunity elsewhere, they would, but they weren't going to give the 24-year-old former first-round pick away for free.
This past Sunday, Wahlstrom received his one-year qualifying offer worth $917,831.
On Friday afternoon, his camp filed for salary arbitration.
Arbitration is when the team and the player's camp try to convince an arbitrator that the player is worth more than the qualifying offer.
It's unlikely that Wahlstrom would get much more than his QO, given his production history or lack thereof.
But maybe this is Wahlstrom's camp trying to speed up the process of finding Wahlstrom that new opportunity.
The Islanders don't currently have the cap space to keep Wahlstrom on the NHL roster if RFA Simon Holmstrom accepts his qualifying offer worth $874,125, with the Islanders only having $900,000 in available cap space.
Filing benefits Wahlstrom—if he isn't going to be with the Islanders—to get acclimated to his new team and the surrounding area and work with potential new linemates before training camp begins.
It also benefits the Islanders, as now a second buyout window will open if Wahlstrom is still on the team by the time of his trial.
The Islanders didn't elect to go to arbitration with Wahlstrom because that will be announced on Saturday.
That doesn't mean they didn't convince him to file.
The second buyout window lasts 48 hours and begins three days after the arbitration case concludes. It must be used on players who make more than $5 million.
Throughout his Islanders tenure, Wahlstrom struggled to consistently produce. Last season, he only played an average of 11:02, scoring two goals with four assists in 32 games.
He played just 10 games after Patrick Roy took over behind the bench on Jan. 21.
Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports
Wahlstrom's development has remained stagnant under three different head coaches. Parlaying the growth struggles with an ACL injury has been tough for the 2018 first-round pick.
The Maine native is a restricted free agent for the second time in as many summers and has been extended a qualifying offer from the Islanders.
However, when we spoke with Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas, he said they wouldn’t give Wahlstrom away for free but would explore getting him an opportunity elsewhere.
Actions speak louder than words, and Lamoriello followed through with the game plan.
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